Placard typewriting machine



June 1931. K. K. WEISSFLOCH 1,

PLACARD TYPEWRITING' MACHINE Filed June 1 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 23, 1931 KONRAD KARL-WEISSFLOCH, OF NUREMIBERGgCi-ERMANY PLAGARD TYPEWRITING MACHINE Application filed June 15, 1928, Serial No.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the lifting device forthe type-carriage track in front and side elevation respectively,

Fig. 4 shows-a second constructional form of the type-carria e track lifting device,

Fig. 5 shows in front elevation a lifting device for the platen carriage,

Fig. 6 shows the platen-lifting device in side elevation and in section on the line A-A in Figure 5, f

Fig. 7 shows in plan the fastening of the shift lever of the platen lifting device on' the base plate, 4

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the locking tongue of the platen shift lever,

Fig. 9 is a partial perspective view of the type carriage, with striking hammer and arresting means,

therack of the platen carriage is secured in side elevation and in front elevation respectively, 1

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 show the rack lock in front elevation, in side elevation and in plan respectively, and

- Fig. 15 is a diagram showing the distribution of the type characters.

The striking or actuating lever 1 'is so mounted as to be rotatable but not laterally displaceable upon a pivot 2 in a bracket 4 screwed to a base plate 3. From the actuating lever 1 there stands out an arm 5 extending downwards at right angles, the-free end of which is formed into an eye 6 and holds a rod 8 which is movable about a. pivot 7 and the free end of which is bent up and formed into a bu-fier 9. In an eye screwed underneath the base plate 3 there swings about a pivot. 13 a linkf14, which passes Figs. 10 and 11 show the manner in which 285,707, and in Germany August 12, 1926.

through a'slot 15in the base plate 3, which stands upon indiarubber buffers 16, and said link 14 being pivotally connected by a bolt 17 with the rod 8, and carrying at its free end a roller 19 rotatable about a pivot 18. In two bearing sleeves 20 projecting up from the base plate 3 there slide two columns 22, which carry a frame 25 with a grooved rail 26 and a number of rollers 27, which latter form the track for the type carriage, running upon balls 28 and upon the rollers 27. l

The type carriage consists of a massive bridge 29, with a ball rail 30 mounted thereon to co-operate with the rail 26 and with a rack 31, a cover plate 32, and a claw 33 (Fig. 9) arranged at one end. In the gaps in the rack 31 there engages the free end of a suitably shaped lever 34, which rotates about a pivot 35 secured to the front wall of the frame 25, and is subject to the influence of a spring 36 7 a-rranged just there. In adjacent rectangular apertures 37 (Fig. 9) in the bridge 29 there slidehorizontal prismatic frames 38, which are accurately guided by the walls of the apertures, and which at their ends projecting towards the striking lever 1 taper down to wedges 39 with upright edges, and the other ends of which carry narrow bodies 40 (Figs. 1 and 9), to which the type characters 42 are fitted, as shown in Fig. 1. Into the cavities enclosed by the frames 38 there comes springs 43, which are suspended by one end in bores 44 in the front frame strips 38a, while their other ends are held by a rod 45, which passes through the entire length of the bridge 29.

From the wedge-shaped ends 39, in front of the middle of the frame 25 stands the head of a hammer 46, which is connected by a vertical bridge-piece 47 with a bar 48 standing on edge, which latter isprolonged into a horizontal arm 49 and a vertical frame or arm 50 attached thereto, which projects into the groove of the roller .19. The bar 48 slides in a track which is formed by two angle parts 51 which are screwed on to the front wall of .the carriage 25, and is constantly drawn by a spring 52 secured to the parts 51 and the arm 50, in'the direction of the arrow at in Figure 1, in such away that between the ham- 100 mer 46 and the type frame 38 or its wedges 39 there remains a small gap.

By the pressure action of the arm 50 against the roller 19 the link 14 is also rocked about its pivot 13 in the direction of the arrow a, and by means of the bolt 17 the rod 8 is likewise shifted in this direction, and the striking lever 1 is thereby also held in a raised position. The entire movement of the parts just described is limited by a stop on the corner 8a of the rod 8 on the base plate 3.

The narrow side walls of the type carriage 25 are each shaped into an eye 53 (Figs. 2 and 3) intowhich is inserted a slide block 54, which slides in a slot 55 ina bent side wall 56 (Fig. 2) of the base plate. By the side walls 56 (Fig. 3) is furthermore carried a rod 57, upon which is mounted fast in the neighbourhood of each of the walls 56, a sleeve 58 with an arm 59. The rod 57 can be rotated by means of a handle 60. Between the handle 60 and the wall 56 is mounted fast on the rod 57 a disc 61 with a notch 62, inwhich there engages a projection 63 on a spring 64 which is secured to a bolt 65 mounted in the side wall 56. The block 54 and the free end of the arm 59 are pivotally connected by a curved member 66 in such a manner that when the disc 61 is rotated by means of the handle 60 a pressure is exerted by the curved member 66 upon the blocks 54, and the frame 25, together with the type carriage 29, simultaneously guided by the block 54 in the slot 55, are thereby raised.

On the rear wall of the frame 25 are arranged on a strip or ledge 69 a number of' The letter space escapenient mechanism shown in Figures 12, 13 and 14 is securedto lugs 74, bent out from a horizontal partition 75, by mean-s of adjustable screws 76, and is there rotatable through about 15 to 20. A bent locking tooth 78, guided in a channel and subject to the action of a spring 77, slides along a plate 79 and is checked in its movement by a stop which is variable in position or exchangeable, to enable the writing width of the carriage to be adapted to the breadth of the type. The stop consists, in the constructional example selected, of a plate 80, which is screwed or otherwise mounted eccentrically upon a pivot 82 (Fig. 14) which is adjustable by means of a handle 81, the plate being so shaped that for a definite position of the handle 81 determined by a marking 83 applied to the handle 81 a gap 84 (Fig. 12) corresponding to the width of the type emplo ed is left between the plate 80 and the loc ing tooth 78. To the plate 79 is furthermore riveted a holding tooth 85, in such a manner that the stopping tooth 78, in an unstressed condition, registers with the tooth 85. From the plate 79 there furthermore project in a downward direction a curved member 86, a lug 87 and a bridge-piece 88. The curved member 86 limits the rocking movement of the entire locking device by abutting against the partition 75. The 'rock ing movement is initiated by a round Wire spring 89 (Fig. 14) which is inserted in the lug 74 of the partition 75, and projects with its free end through an aperture 90 (Fig. 13) in the lug 87. By the pressure of the spring 89 the bridge-piece 88 is kept positively in connection with the buffer 9 on the rod 8.

Above the letter space escapement mechanism is located the track for the platen carriage, this track being constructed in the usual manner. The side walls of the platen carriage track are provided, like those of the type carriage, with eyes 91, (Fig. 5) and are connected by pivoted stays 92 with the arms 93 of a rod 94 running right through the machine. The rod 94 is carried by two spaced walls 95 (Fig. 1) bent up from the base plate 3 and carries in its turn at one end outside the wall 95 a fast pulley 96, with a fixed lever 97. The lever 97 is pivotally connected by a rod 98 (Fig. 5) with one arm of a double or two arm lever 99 on the front of the machine (Fig. 7), the other arm of the said lever being constructed as a handle 100. The handle 100 is rotatable about a pivot 101 secured to the base plate 3 and can be held in its rocked-in position (Figs. 7 and 8) by a tongue 102 secured at that point. As in the case of the type carriage track, the platen carriage track is also slot-guided (103, Fig. 1) in the side walls 95.

The rack ofthe platen carriage comprises a plurality of parallel rows of teeth of different pitches, in order to enable the writing width of the carriage to be made greater or smaller according to which row of teeth is brought into engagement with the tooth 78 of the letter space escapement mechanism. In the constructional example illustrated, the rack 106 journalled in the side walls 105 (Figs. 10 and 11) of the carriage and meshing with the locking device is equipped with two rows of teeth'and can be rotated by a knob 107, which is provided with a collar 108 with a notch 109, into which the head 110 of aspring 111 snaps.

Upon the cover plate 32 of the type carriage are embossed (Fig. 9) marks and letters 122, which agree with the type characters of the frame 38 thereunder. Similarly upon the hammer 46 is provided a mark 123. The striking surface of the hammer 46 is provided with two notches 125 and 126, the spatial corners of which correspond to the wedge angle 39 of the frames 38.

The platen is rotatable so as to enable it to be turned for line spacing The means for turning the platen are not shown as they do not form part .of the present invention. Any of the well-known line spacing devices can be used for turning the platen for line spacing.

The method of working of the typewriter described is as follows r After the papertobe printed upon has been slipped in a known manner beneath the feed roll in front of the stop ledge or platen 41, the carriage 29 is gripped by the handle 33, and slid along its track, and the desired type character 42 is brought into the printing position between the inking rollers 72, which is-effec-ted when the corresponding mark on the plate 32 is in alignment with the mark 123 on the hammer 46. At the same time the type character has been inked by running past the roller 72. The adjusting of the desired type character is facilitated by the rack 31 and the lever 34 which snaps into a gap in the rack every time assoon as a type character stands in the printing position.

If the lever 1 is now depressed, the arm '5 slides the rod 8 in a direction opposite to that of the arrow a in Fi re 1. By means of the bolt 17 the link 14 1s rocked about its pivot 13 in this direction, and by the pressure of the roller 18 against the arm the bar 48, with the hammer -46, is subjected to the tension in the spring 52. The notch 125 takes up a position above the wedge 39 of the frame 38 located in the printing position, and the latter is forced by the stress in the spring 43 against the stop ledge or platen 41, whereby the type character located in the printing position is impressed upon the paper. During this movement the buffer 9 presses against the bridge-piece 88 of the letter space esca-pemen't mechanism and rocks the latter, under the stress of the spring 89 (Fig. 14) about its bearing screws 76 in the direction of the arrow 6 in Figure 1. The tooth '78 is thereby withdrawn from the rack 106 and snaps forward in the direction of the arrow 0 in Figure 12, while the platen carriage is still held by the fixed tooth 85, which is moved within reachof the rack by the rocking of the plate 79. When the pressure upon the lever 1 ceases, the retracting spring 52 draws the hammer 46 and the bar 48 with the arms 49 and 50 back in thedirection of the arrow a in Figure 1 into their original position. By the pressure of the arm 50 upon the roller 19 the link 14, the rod 8 with the buffer 9 and the double-lever 5, 1, are also rocked back into their former position's. Yielding to the pressure of the spring 89, the bridge-piece 88 remains in t .lch with the backwardly yielding buffer 9, and the plate 79 also assumes its previous position, and the tooth 78 thus comes underneath the rack 106 again and engages with the latter.

Since the tooth 78 has in the meantime snapped forward and relaxed the spring 77,

fluence of the pull of a gut string, the tooth of the rod 106 presses against the tooth 7 8 of the letter space escapement mechanism and.

the said tooth yields in a backward direction under the stress of the spring 77 as far as the plate 80 permits, that is to say, the

.entire carriage moves forward by; this distance, that is by one type breadth.

The type characters may advantageously be distributed over the individual bodies 40 in the manner illustrated in Figure 15. In

the field A are arranged the large letters,

figures and signs, and underneath it the small letters and further signs having a breadth of 14 millimetres in one continuous row. In the field B is located thesame arrangement with type characters of somewhat less height anzi of a type breadth of 7 millimetres. In the field C the arrangement is repeated a second time but with letters of only 3.5 millimetres type breadth and of still less height.

Hence in this way, under the large continuous type group is located the same type 'group twice but in a smaller size. Accordingly upon each body 4O there are four type characters, 42, 42a, 42b and 420. Normally, that is to say, with the type carriage and the platen carriage lowered, the type character 42a prints. If the platen carriage alone is raised, the type character 42 is ready to print, and if the type carriage alone" is raised the. type character 420 is ready to print. 42?) is brought into the printing position by raising both carriages.

' The raising of the platen carriage is effected by rocking the lever 100, and the raising of the type carriage by rotating the handle 60. The lever 100 is rocked in the direction of the arrow 11 in Fig. 7, until the tongue The type character 1 102 snaps with its notch behind the flat back rocks the lever 97, with which the'rod 94' rotates. By the rotating of the rod 94 the arm 93, with the support 92, swings upwards and thereby also presses upwards the track of the platen carriage, which is guided in the slots 55. The descent of-the platen carriage track is effected simply by a light pressure upon the resilient end of the tongue 102a (Fig. 8). The pressure, caused by the weight of the carriage, upon the stay 92, the levers 93 and 94, the rod 98 and the levers 99 and 100 is no longer resisted by the notch in the tongue 102, and the whole of the members that have been brought out of their position by the rocking of the lever 100 move back into their previous positions.

If the handle 60 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the movement thereof is transmitted to the rod 57 and the arm 59, whereby, by means of the ascending curved member 66, the type track guided in the slots 55 is also raised, and with it the type carriage itself. When the type carriage has reached the height necessary for the type characters to be ready for printing, the spring head 63 snaps into the notch 62 in the disc 96 and prevents the raised members from sinking back again after the handle is released. This is only possible when the spring wedge 63, by means of an additional rotary force applied by hand in an anti-clockwise direction, is forced out of the notch 62, or is raised out of the notch 62 by pressing with the finger upon the spring 64.

The lifting movement of the type carriage,

as illustrated in Figure 4, may also be effected by means of a rack 126, which is driven by a toothed wheel 127, which is mounted in place of the arm 93 upon the rod 57. Of course the lifting device of the type carriage track may also be employed as a lifting device for the platen carriage track. The distance between the type carriage mechanism and the platen carriage mechanism is: made so great that in place of the paper pulled through underneath the platen, a sheet of thick cardboard, wood or the like can be placed in front of the impact bar and printed upon. The carriage feed necessary for the breadth of type adopted in any particular instance is adjusted by the handle 81, the distance 81 between the plate 80 and the back 78a of the locking tooth 78 being varied by rotating the plate 80. This distance can be read off at any time on the handle 81. If the adjustability of the plate 80 is not sufficient for the various kinds of letters, the plate 80 is taken out and another plate 80 of different dimensions is inserted in the locking plate 79 or in the handle 81.

mechanism operatively connected to said feed roll and a platen in front of the feed roll for supporting the writing material at the printing point of type carriers having type thereon of a large size suitable for placards, price tickets, advertisements and the like, guiding means for said type carriers adapted to guide the carrierswith the type thereon from an inoperative position to an operative position with the type in contact with a sheet of writing material on the I platen supported by said abutment plate, said guiding means being spaced from the platen, so as to leave an interval between the platen and the type in the inoperative position for enabling the writing point to be visible, and being arranged at a height such that they do not obscure the view of the platen obtainable through said interval, and means actuatable by hand for moving said type carriers into and out of the operative position, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A typewriting machine comprising the von of a large size suitable for placards,

price tickets, advertisements and the like, guiding means for said type carriers comprising a vertical casing arranged parallel to the platen for supporting said type carriers and having horizontal guiding means for guiding the type carriers with the type thereon from an inoperative position to a position with the type in contact with a sheet of writing-material on the platen, said casing being sli dable parallel to the platen to enable any individual type carrier to be brought into position for writing, and spaced from the platen, so as to leave an interval between the platen and the type in the inoperative posit-ion for enabling the writing point to be visible, and being arranged at a height such that it does not obscure the view of the platen obtainable through said interval, and means actuatabl'e by hand for moving saidtype carriers into and out of the operative position, as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

KONRAD KARL WEISSFLOCH. 

